DOJ Mobilizes Prosecutors to Fight Cryptocrime
To help combat the growing number of crimes related to cryptocurrency, over 150 prosecutors from across the country are coming together.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) established the Digital Asset Coordinator (DAC) Network to advance the agency’s efforts to tackle the growing threat to US consumers posed by the illicit use of crypto, according to a press release Friday (Sept. 16).
Comprised of designated federal prosecutors from U.S. attorneys’ offices across the United States and the department’s prosecution components, the DAC network is expected to be more effective in detecting and disrupting crypto-related crimes. DAC will investigate and prosecute as well as seize and confiscate the assets that constitute ill-gotten gains.
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“As digital assets play an increasing role in our global financial system, we must work together with departments and agencies across government to prevent and disrupt the exploitation of these technologies to facilitate crime and undermine our national security,” the attorney general said. Merrick B. Garland.
Each DAC will serve as their own office’s subject matter expert on digital assets and will also serve as the source of legal and technical guidance. The White House just released its first ever framework suggests what crypto regulation in the US should look like. The fact sheet released on Friday (September 16) follows an executive order issued in March that asks federal agencies to analyze the risks and benefits of cryptocurrencies and report on their findings.
Read more: SEC steps in on small cryptos to bolster oversight case
“Developments in digital assets have created a new landscape for criminals to leverage innovation to advance significant criminal and national security threats domestically and abroad,” said the Assistant Attorney General. Kenneth A. Polite Jr. from the Ministry of Justice’s Criminal Division.
Aside from establishing the DAC, the DOJ also issued its report, The role of law enforcement in detecting, investigating and prosecuting criminal activity related to digital assets. The report outlines how fraudsters are exploiting digital asset technologies and the challenges facing criminal investigators.
The report also reviews the already established initiatives by the department and law enforcement agencies as part of “whole-of-government efforts to more effectively detect, investigate, prosecute and otherwise disrupt these crimes and the recommended regulatory and legislative measures to further improve law enforcement’s ability to tackle digital asset crime.”
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